I'm not sure if it was today or yesterday a humpback whale porpoised past the boat 25m from from us and then dived waving his tail fin as he went. The reason I am not sure is because the last two days have been long motoring days trying to get north ahead of some fresh northerly winds forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday. We have had wind but it has been light and from dead ahead.
We awoke this morning at 0445 and were on our way by 0500. Extreme care was needed to extricate ourselves from our anchorage as we were beset by fog and surrounded by ice. In addition we had already discovered a charting error and so we literally had to feel our way out.
That extreme concentration punctuated by an episode of intense anxiety were to continue throughout the long day with the engine chugging at 2,500 rpm. The charting errors continued and the fog stuck to us like glue. The passages were intricate with no margin for error.
But the crew of Shimshal were up to it with precision navigation and monumental vigilance. One of the oddest episodes of anxiety was when were happily going along a marked passage. The water was pale with glacial sediment and the depth sounder persistently read dangerously shallow depths despite allegedly being in deep water. Then a reef appeared ahead out of the murk when it should have been to port. We double checked everything and proceeded with great caution wishing that the thin veil of fog would part and reveal the sunny wonderland that surrounded us. Tantalising glimpses of blue skies and glittering peaks came and went but mostly we laboured north and west in dank, frigid fog.
Passing the settlement of Paamiut, we read in our sailing guide "Arctic Pilot" that "Paamiut has a raw, damp climate with considerable fog, especially in spring and summer". We are experiencing the real Greenland then but the crew of Shimshal are hoping for sunshine and following winds so that we can relax and enjoy as we get further north. Meanwhile visibility, ice and dodgy charts will keep us on our toes. Cruising here is not for the faint hearted!
